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BANGKOK, (Reuters) - A jailed gambling tycoon fighting extradition to China received "inhumane treatment" in a Thai prison after saying he was a Chinese spy, his lawyers have told Interpol, saying they fear for his life.
China-born She Zhijiang, who has Cambodian citizenship, has suffered violence that has left him unable to stand and has received unwanted visits from Chinese officials, the lawyers said in a letter to the international police organisation, seen by Reuters.
The tycoon was arrested in Bangkok in 2022 on an international warrant and an Interpol red notice sought by Beijing, which accuses him of running illegal online gambling operations in Southeast Asia. She and his lawyers have said the case is politically motivated.
In their letter to Interpol, dated Jan. 9 and shared with Reuters, the lawyers said he has been kept in solitary confinement, chained, denied medical treatment for a spinal injury and denied contact with his family.
The tycoon has been subjected to "particularly inhumane treatment" and human rights violations of an "institutional nature", wrote the lawyers, Clara Gerard-Rodriguez and Pierre-Olivier Sur of the France-based firm FTMS Avocats.
"These elements lead us to seriously fear for our client's life," the lawyers added.
China's Foreign Ministry told Reuters in a statement that She was a Chinese national and a "key figure in online gambling and telecom fraud crimes", saying the evidence against him was "conclusive".
It welcomed a decision made by Thai courts to extradite him, calling the step an important achievement in Thai-Chinese law enforcement cooperation. She's lawyers are appealing the extradition ruling.
Thailand's Ministry of Justice declined to comment, referring questions to the Department of Corrections, which did not immediately respond.
An Interpol red notice must comply with the organisation's rules, "under which activity of a political, military, religious or racial nature is strictly forbidden", an Interpol spokesperson said, declining to comment further.
